Ewa Korcelli-Olejniczak

Abstract

In this article the future evolution of the settlement system of Poland is discussed using selected scenarios anticipated for the European space. For this purpose two alternative reference scenarios are outlined and examined in the light of some specific characteristics of Poland’s metropolitan development. The questions posed in this context involve the sustainability of policy assumptions concerning the role of cities of various size categories, as well as factors that could lead to a discontinuity in the trends observed in metropolisation.

Keywords: metropolitan development, European space, reference scenarios, trend reversal

Ewa Korcelli-Olejniczak [eko@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
Piotr Korcelli [korcelli@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

In this article questions are posed concerning the spatial structure of the Warsaw region and its development trends. These are presented against recent conceptual approaches to the study of metropolitan regions. Alternative hypothesesare discussed related to continuing spatial polarization, the emergence of polycentric urban patterns, as well as growing functional interdependence between the urban and the predominantly rural areas within the region. This is placed inthe context of public policy objectives concerning both territorial cohesion and socio-economic growth; the latter hidden under the region’s competitiveness label. Empirical findings from a comparative analysis of the location behavior of selected firms in the advanced services sector are referred to in the discussion. It is argued that in projecting the region’s development path into the future, the concept of the urban-rural region is of particular relevance. Such an approach may also be adopted for use in developing spatial policy.

Keywords: metropolitan region, urban-rural region, the Warsaw region, advanced service sector, territorial cohesion

Ewa Korcelli-Olejniczak [eko@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

The paper attempts to defi ne Berlin’s functional profi le, contrasting it with the expectations andevaluations of the last twenty years. By analyzing employment and investment shares according to sectionsof the economy (the SIC index) several activities are identifi ed which fulfi l the following criteria: they arerepresentative of Berlin, they show progressive development trends, and their role is refl ected in the structureof investment outlays. In the analysis, the location co-effi cient is used, which allows for the identifi cationof the characteristic features of Berlin’s functional profi le against the national average structure.The analysis proves that Berlin has been developing in a relatively ambiguous manner, though its functionalspecialization is rather stable, in that it has experienced only slight structural changes since thebeginning of the 1990s. It is also observed that the position of Berlin in the German urban system is quitestable. In this context, the question is posed as to whether Warsaw’s position in the Polish urban system,as expressed in its functional profi le, should, when one considers all the parallels and differences, resembleor not the one held by Berlin in Germany.

Keywords: Berlin, functional profi le, location co-effi cient, employment structure, representative and progressive functions, Warsaw

Ewa Korcelli-Olejniczak [eko@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

The existing typologies of rural-urban regions can be divided into three categories, based ondifferent criteria that refer to alternative concepts of the region and of urban–rural relations. The fi rstcategory is represented by studies in which the hierarchical structure of rural–urban regions is exposed,as determined by the functional profi le as well as the range of functions performed, the populationpotential, and the political and administrative status of the main urban centre. The second categorycomprises typologies based on criteria related to level of urbanization, i.e. the extent to which a givenarea has an urban vs. rural character. These typologies also tend to include criteria related to spatial forms– the morphology of settlement, as well as the density and redistribution of population. Typologicalstudies in the third category focus on the interdependence of, and interaction between the urban, periurban,and rural zones of rural–urban regions. Studies of the latter kind are rather rare, owing to theirexacting requirements as regards data, in particular with respect to fl ow data.

Keywords: urban-rural regions, regional typologies, functional urban regions, peri-urban areas.

Piotr Korcelli [korcelli@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakowskie Przedmieście 30, 00-927 Warszawa, Poland
Ewa Korcelli-Olejniczak [eko@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Keywords: city, region, urban sociology, transformation, East-Central Europe

Ewa Korcelli-Olejniczak [eko@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Ewa Korcelli-Olejniczak [eko@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland